DAILY EMERALD: No. 13 Oregon takes advantage of sloppy Portland defense en route to 10-1 victoryDaniel Friis

• Daniel Friis  Mar 23, 2021 

No. 13 Oregon takes advantage of sloppy Portland defense en route to 10-1 victory

Oregon defeated the Portland Pilots 10-1 on Tuesday afternoon in Eugene to improve to 11-4 on the season. 

RJ Gordon got the start for the Ducks on the mound. He made quick work of the Pilots in the first, sending down the side in order in just ten pitches.

For the Pilots, Jack Folkins toed the rubber to mark his first ever collegiate appearance. In just his second pitch, Tanner Smith launched a home run off the right field roof to give Oregon an early 1-0 lead. 

In the bottom of the second, the Pilots shot themselves in the foot on multiple occasions. Robby Ashford led off the inning by reaching on an error as the two-sport athlete immediately stole second. Ashford advanced to third on a groundout, and Smith walked, forcing Portland head coach Geoff Loomis to turn to Nick Brink out of the bullpen.

Brink walked Kenyon Yovan, Gabe Matthews, and Aaron Zavala, throwing a wild pitch in the process to give Oregon two more runs. With the bases loaded and Brink failing to record an out, Loomis turned to Johnny Carter out of the bullpen. Carter was just as erratic out of the bullpen, as his two wild pitches gave Oregon an additional two more runs.

Oregon scored four runs in the second, growing its lead to 5-0 without recording a single base hit in the inning. 

Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski turned to Christian Ciuffetelli in the third to relieve Gordon. Gordon finished his day efficiently with two innings, four strikeouts, and no runs. 

Portland’s Henry Chaney singled, and Ciuffetelli walked the next two batters to load the bases for the Pilots. Chad Stevens stepped up next and rolled into a 4-6-3 double play, scoring Chaney in the process. 

With two outs and a runner at third, Ben Patacsil stepped up and was robbed of a base hit and RBI by Oregon shortstop Josh Kasevish who made a remarkable diving play fully extending to his left and throwing out the runner all in one motion.

The sloppiness continued for the Pilots in the third. Kasevich began the inning with a base hit to right field. He moved up to third on two wild pitches and eventually came around to score on an RJ Ruffo passed ball to extend the lead to 6-1.

Decker Stedman took over on the bump for the Ducks in the fourth with a crisp three up, three down inning. 

Matthews began the fourth with a walk, and the senior advanced to second on a wild pitch. Zavala was up next, and he hit a fly ball to left that Jake Holcroft appeared to be camped under. Instead, Holcroft lost the ball in the sun and fell to allow Matthews to score, and Zavala to go to third. The next batter, Nick Bellafronto, hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Zavala. 8-1 Ducks. 

With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Zavala walked and immediately got into scoring position when he stole second. Then, Bellafronto singled to left, scoring Zavala and growing the lead to 9-1. 

Scott Ellis made his season debut on the mound for the Ducks in the seventh, and he threw a crisp inning sending down the Pilots quietly. 

The bottom of the eighth began with Yovan singling to left. Tyler Ganus pinch ran for Yovan, advanced to second on a pickoff error, moved up to third on a flyball out to center, and eventually scored on a wild pitch. The lead ballooned to 10-1. 

Isaac Ayon got the ball in the ninth, marking the seventh Oregon pitcher on the day. The freshman sent the Pilots down in order, picking up two strikeouts and closing out the 10-1 Oregon win.

Despite scoring ten runs, Oregon had just seven hits on the day. Their offense benefitted from nine wild pitches, nine walks, two passed balls, and two errors from Portland. 

Oregon will look to continue their hot start to the season when they resume Pac-12 play on March 26 against the No. 21 Arizona Wildcats in Tucson.